Update: Christian will join the Intel Collaborative Research Institute on Sustainable Connected Cities at University College London as postdoctoral research associate in spring 2013.

As project leader of the DFG project “MedioVis” from 2003 to 2007, Christian designed and integrated next generation visual information seeking tools (e.g. the “HyperGrid”) into the practice of information seeking in the Library of the University of Konstanz.

Since then, he has been focusing on the interaction design and software architectures for post-WIMP Surface Computing and Natural User Interfaces. His current research on the “ZOIL” (Zoomable Object-Oriented Information Landscape) interface paradigm employs distributed Zoomable User Interfaces for collaborative search and sensemaking with multi-user and multi-surface interactive spaces.

ZOIL’s design priniciples and their manifestation as a C#/WPF software framework are currently evaluated in cooperation projects (e.g. DeskPiles, Facet-Streams) with Microsoft Research Cambridge, Microsoft Surface, and the NanoPhotonics Centre of the University of Cambridge. ZOIL is furthermore the conceptual and technological basis for other projects in the HCI group, e.g. Blended Library, Blended Museum, Blended Interaction Design, or MedioVis 2.0.

Christian is furthermore involved in the design of user-centered automotive infotainment systems for Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz and the design of interactive showrooms or museums.

Other fields of research that Christian has been recently interested in are the cognitive foundations of “natural” user interfaces and user interface “metaphors” (e.g. embodied cognition, reality-based interaction, and conceptual integration).